Guide / Tutorial Photographing gold so that it looks like gold

[LawrenceChard]

10 hours ago, Charliemouse said:

You're not wrong.  Using a photographic white box would help, but that's not to some people's taste or budget.

A grey card, or even a white piece of paper just off the side of the shot, would accomplish the same thing, without changing the look of the shot.

Yes, true photographic grey cards are available at popular online retailers and photography shops for a few quid, and that would get you a very close to perfect white balance.

But as I said in the original post, all of this of well beyond the scope of the basic article.

Sure white boxes or light boxes are a well known way to get all around light on small objects.

It's main drawback is that it can produce very flat and featureless effects. As coins have only slighty raised designs, this does not work well. For objects with more pronounced 3D shapes, I believe it can be effective.

Using umbrella type diffusers and reflectors gives more control.

I understand your comments about "beyond the scope of the basic article". A problem with photography is that no single solution gives perfect results under all conditions. We often resort to a degree of trial and error, in order to achieve optimum results, and even then, there is almost always a trade-off between near perfection and time. Almost all of our photos are produced using some compromise.

None of this detracts from your very helpful guides to producing better coin photos. Keep it up!

😎

[paulmerton]

I've had good results using these https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anwenk-Balance-Exposure-Photography-Calibration/dp/B01DPV5PUA

The gist of it is that you take a photo of the grey card, lock both the exposure and the white balance level to whatever the camera decided it should be, and then use those settings to take a photo of the actual subject under the same lighting conditions. Anything dark will stay dark rather than being overexposed, anything bright will avoid getting underexposed, and anything that has colour in it will stay the right colour.

However, most of the phones I've ever used don't support exposure lock and custom white balance using their default camera apps, so you usually have to install a third party camera app to do this on a phone. Sometimes it's much more convenient to whip out your phone than a proper camera, though.

[Charliemouse]

1 hour ago, paulmerton said:

I've had good results using these https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anwenk-Balance-Exposure-Photography-Calibration/dp/B01DPV5PUA

The gist of it is that you take a photo of the grey card, lock both the exposure and the white balance level to whatever the camera decided it should be, and then use those settings to take a photo of the actual subject under the same lighting conditions. Anything dark will stay dark rather than being overexposed, anything bright will avoid getting underexposed, and anything that has colour in it will stay the right colour.

However, most of the phones I've ever used don't support exposure lock and custom white balance using their default camera apps, so you usually have to install a third party camera app to do this on a phone. Sometimes it's much more convenient to whip out your phone than a proper camera, though.

Thanks.

I plan to do more posts soon, including more advanced techniques, such as deeper into the weeds of colour and light calibration.  Might be useful for the more professional / commercial / enthusiast members on here.  I will certainly include grey cards and similar tools, plus techniques for using them.

Most recent-generation phones allow you to take 'raw' images, for later processing.  These have not had any white balance changes applied, and rely on post-processing to achieve this.  This is obviously far less convenient, but generally produces much more satisfactory results.  I always strongly recommend taking raw images, because there are many benefits, white balance included.  Related, take a look at Open Camera.

Edited January 16, 2023 by Charliemouse

[Gordy]

15 hours ago, Charliemouse said:

The 'gizmo' will definitely help to give you an even, diffuse light across the coin, emphasising the depth by providing some percentage of light from the top of the image.  Because it is dark grey when lit, I guess it might provide a better reference for the camera, if some of it is in the shot.  But it won't, in itself, help with white balance.

Your image does still have quite a lot of blue in it, even though the coin is still yellow.  Compare to this version, where I have reduced the blue channel.  The gold is definitely a deeper colour.

what would you say is the better background colour for these photos? 

[James32]

33 minutes ago, Gordy said:

what would you say is the better background colour for these photos? 

Maroon...

[Charliemouse]

34 minutes ago, Gordy said:

what would you say is the better background colour for these photos? 

That's subjective.  I tend to prefer a neutral, dark background.  Hard to go wrong with black, but to my eye, navy blue also works well with gold.  But I would also crop the photograph, so that the coin filled the picture, and very little of the background is visible.

To your eye, does the picture match the colour of the material, in person?  Which version is closer?  Colour matching is a whole other world.

As I hinted at in the original post, trying to apply as little correction as possible from the start, is always going to be the best option.  Once you have to apply a colour correction (which the camera will do automatically by default), it is equivalent to adding a filter to a lens, then adding another filter to correct for that, then adding another, etc.

 

[Gordy]

Just now, Charliemouse said:

That's subjective.  I tend to prefer a neutral, dark background.  Hard to go wrong with black, but to my eye, navy blue also works well with gold.  But I would also crop the photograph, so that the coin filled the picture, and very little of the background is visible.

To your eye, does the picture match the colour of the material, in person?  Which version is closer?  Colour matching is a whole other world.

As I hinted at in the original post, trying to apply as little correction as possible from the start, is always going to be the best option.  Once you have to apply a colour correction (which the camera will do automatically by default), it is equivalent to adding a filter to a lens, then adding another filter to correct for that, then adding another, etc.

 

yours is better tbh, its a case of am i happy with it i guess, probably yes, unless i was going to put them on my walls 😂

[Charliemouse]

On 16/01/2023 at 15:20, Gordy said:

yours is better tbh, its a case of am i happy with it i guess, probably yes, unless i was going to put them on my walls 😂

Yours really were not far off - at least they looked gold.

However, what I suggest is not difficult.  Just have a go at changing the white balance setting, next time you take a photo.

[StackemHigh]

I use a black background with an axial setup. gets really good photos. Only problem i have was camera was picking up my location and adding it to the file, only realised after about 500 photos in.

[gji25]

On 15/01/2023 at 20:40, LawrenceChard said:

Try shooting with a white background!

😎

just photoshop it 

[LawrenceChard]

9 hours ago, gji25 said:

just photoshop it 

No, it is far better to capture the best images possibel before doing any processing, so shoot on a white, or neutral grey card, then Photoshop it as required.

GIGO!

😎

[sovereignsteve]

Gigolo?😎

[Coverte]

Thank you for this - only just saw it - printed to PDF for future reference 👍